Annual event held in memory of beloved friend raises $9,700 for kids at Christmas in its final year

Last Garry Zentil Charity Spin for Kids event marks nine years of charity for the Star’s Santa Claus Fund — and more than $90K in donations.

Participants of the last annual Garry Zentil Charity Spin for Kids, which raised $9,700 for the Star's Santa Claus Fund, bringing the nine-year total in memory of their friend Garry to $90,550. (Supplied photo)

It’s been almost six years since Garry Zentil, a booming Toronto man with a love of good fitness, good food and good wine, died unexpectedly at age 55.

But his friends are only now saying goodbye to an annual tradition dreamed up by Zentil and a group of his fitness pals in his last years.

The Garry Zentil Charity Spin for Kids — a rollicking one-hour spin class, complete with Santa hats and holiday music — took its final spin and curtain call last month.

“It was time to move on,” Celeste Iacobelli, who’d known Zentil since high school and took over the event after his death, told the Star. “Our spin group had changed as we got older. But we wanted to honour Garry.

“And we wanted to do that with a little bit of flourish.”

Article Continued Below

A little bit of flourish indeed: the group capped out their nine-year tradition with a donation of $9,700 to the Star’s Santa Claus Fund.

Over nine years, that total rockets up to a whopping $90,550 in donations.

The Star Santa Claus Fund provides 45,000 underprivileged children aged 12 and younger in Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Pickering and Ajax with gift boxes at Christmas. The presents are delivered by teams of volunteers.

Recipients receive a warm shirt (toddlers get a fleece-lined tracksuit while newborn infants get a five-piece set that includes onesies), a warm hat, warm gloves or mittens, socks, a toy, a book, cookies and dental hygiene items (aged 4 and up) inside.

It’s the only present many of the kids will receive this holiday season, which is why the gift boxes aim to cover the basics and then some. Every dollar goes toward the cost of the gifts.

Helping out kids was a unifying force for the group of middle-aged friends, who come from diverse walks of life, Iacobelli said.

“The Santa Claus Fund was just the perfect charity,” he said. “It’s kids at Christmas, in our community, and everyone can relate to that and feel like they want to help.”

Zentil and his wife had three kids themselves.

This year’s event was filled with good company and good food. They drank wine, ate ice-cream cake — and remembered their friend.

“I remember Garry as a giant,” he said. “He was tall in stature, but apart from all that, he was just overwhelming in his presence. He had a smile, he had a positive attitude. He had such a wonderful way of looking at people. Never critical. Always looking at their good side. Always positive.”

Zentil was the kind of friend who personalized his Christmas gifts. A few of his personalized pens to Iacobelli were sitting on his desk as he chatted about their last event — which he said was sad to see end, but deeply gratifying.

“I think we can take a lot of pride in saying we honoured Garry by carrying this little tradition on in his memory and by doing what he would have wanted to do, which was be together, enjoy each other’s company and do something good with it,” Iacobelli said.

“And doing something for the kids was obviously something that was good. I’m very proud and privileged to have been able to carry this on.”